Why Do Americans Need Gun Control?

The whole gun control debate may have began after President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Until about 1968, shotguns, rifles, handguns and ammo were sold over-the-counter, but that changed and it goes back further than that. We don't see it being dealt with by the government until 1791, when an amendment is made. The right to bear arms comes from the second amendment of the constitution, which reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." (U.S consititution). Almost two centuries later, the Gun Control Act of 1968 was set in motion. This act "...was enacted for the purpose of keeping firearms out of the hands of those not legally entitled to possess them because of age, criminal background, or incompetence." (Longley)

As the technology, build, and practicality of the hand gun changed over the past couple of hundred years, so has the increased want and demand. Of course, as more people started owning guns, the crime rate and deaths by gun shot up. Basically, it used to be every man for himself. As the government started worrying farther than just setting the rules but actually having people abide by the rules, laws and restrictions were set to try to regulate who owned guns and why they would use them. In 1934, Congress first started regulating the sale of automatic firearms. Not until four years later did the government think to make it federal law to require gun sellers to be licensed and to prohibit felons from purchasing them (Policy Issue p1). Even with rules that shops were supposed to follow, there are loopholes. The problem with some people in the U.S. is they will go buy guns because they have no criminal record, and then sell it to someone who is willing to pay them for the gun. Different laws over the years, still standing and also withdrawn, have spelled out different ideas of regulations, “The Gun Control Act of 1968 regulated imported guns, expanded gun-dealer licensing requirements, and expanded the list of persons not eligible to buy guns to include person convicted of any non-business related felony, minors, persons found to be mentally incompetent, and users of illegal drugs,” (Policy Issue p1). Gun

There are gun control laws to try and reduce the number of violent shootings that occur. They are trying to put limits on weapons that Americans can own. The government is trying to take our guns away mainly because of people that are criminally insane. Most of the people who commit crimes don’t even have the weapons legally. If the government takes away the rights of people who are allowed to have firearms in their possession, it will most definitely cause an outrage. Most people believe that the people should be more capable of maintain proper use of the firearms instead of having them all taken away. Taking the firearms from Americans away would cause a lot more problems than there actually are. The people will be upset with the

Gun control has recently brought a massive uproar to the United States after several tragedies combined mass murder with firearms. Some argue that guns are meant to be used for our protection and it takes someone to pull the trigger while others believe that guns are intended to cause serious harm or death to the intended target. The right to own a firearm stems from the second amendment of the constitution and states that a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to bear arms, shall not be infringed. The first piece of gun control legislature that was passed in the United States was in 1911 when Sullivan’s Law passed to make buying or carrying a handgun without a permit a felony

The National firearm act of 1934 regulating only fully automatic firearms like sub-machine guns is approved by Congress. Then Roosevelt wins approval of the National Firearms Act of 1938, which requires the licensing of interstate gun dealers, who must record their sales. It prohibits sales to individuals under accusation or convicted of crimes of violence. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed for the purpose of keeping firearms out of the hands of those not legally permitted to possess them because of age, criminal background, or incompetence. In 1972 the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms is created listing as part of its mission the control of illegal use and sale of firearms and the enforcement of Federal firearms laws. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act enforces a five-day waiting period on the purchase of a handgun and requires that local law enforcement agencies conduct background checks on purchasers of handguns. Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 band all sale, manufacture, importation, or possession of a number of specific types of assault weapons. Given this information you

The battle for stricter gun-control laws has not been without victories. In 1968, Congress passed the Gun Control Act in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and Senator Robert Kennedy. The law mandated stricter licensing requirements, prohibited the sale of

“The left, liberals, believe that if we just have more gun control laws, all the problems are going to go away. Well, I don 't think so. I don 't think so. I think - yes, it will, it will be reduced. There 's no question about that.” (brainquotes). The earliest federal gun-control law was the National Firearms Act of 1934, which restrictive $200 tax on the manufacture or sale of machine guns and sawed-off shotguns. All sales were to be recorded in a national registry. Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to prevent any mafia and bank robbers from purchasing “Tommy Guns” and sawed-off shotguns. Then in 1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson passed two gun-control acts; Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the Gun Control Act of 1968

To help apply restrictions, the Gun Control Act of 1968, which was the first gun law, was passed in the wake of the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy earlier that year (“Restricting” par. 4). The 1968 Gun Control Act established categories of prohibited gun purchasers and possessors, including convicted felons, fugitives from justice, minors, individuals with a history of

In 1934, a law called the National Firearms Act, had been set in motion to successfully ban automatic weapons from citizens so that the only ones allowed to have automatic weapons were the police, military, and people with written

After President Kennedy was assassinated the Gun Control act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson. This required firearm dealer to keep a more detailed recored of their sales and also made it illegal to sell guns across state lines with the exception of licensed individuals. Another famous bill the that was passed was the Brady Bill(Gun Control Laws). This was signed by President Clinton after Ronald Reagan and Press Secretary James Brady were attacked leaving Brady with permeant neurological damage. This bill required a person to wait five days before they could purchase a firearm, but it also asked for background checks to be done by law enforcement. This bill only lasted about 4 years (1993-1997) because it was deemed unconstitutional to do background checks without reason as an invasion of privacy. There were many more in attempts in the past but many more failed like the ban on assault rifles (also

The gun control debates and issues started hundreds of years ago. First, in 1873 the State of Georgia passed a law to ban handguns and this law was thrown out, because it was ruled unconstitutional. Second, in 1865 several Southern States forbid Black people from possessing firearms in what was named at that time the “Black Code.” In 1871 the biggest movement in Gun Control in the United States happened when the National Rifle Association was established with a goal to train Union Soldiers for better rifle skills, until the State of New York banned the activities of NRA on NY State soil. (http://definitions.uslegal.com/g/gun-control/) US Legal Definitions.

Later, in 1938, The Federal Firearms Act was put in place which further restricted the state to states movement of firearms. This new law prevented those convicted and without proper permits from obtaining guns, but there were no consequences to those who sold guns to these people. More and more firearm restriction acts were passed like the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, The Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Brady Bill in efforts to regulate the sale, manufacturing, and purchase of firearms. Opponents of strict gun laws often reference the Bill of Rights, specifically the Second Amendment. Although the Bill of Rights gives Americans certain freedoms, it does not mean Americans are not without certain regulations. Each state has its own constitution, and in each constitution limits can be added to certain freedoms to ensure the safety of its people. For example, Florida, Georgia and Texas’ constitutions allow its citizens to carry arms as a means of self-protection, but it always states that this freedom shall be regulated by the authority of the government. Even though all states feel guns need to be regulated many disagree in which way regulations are set. There are an estimated twenty thousand local, state, and federal gun laws currently regulating firearms in the United States (Gold, 2004).

Prior to Franklin Roosevelt, the Democratic party didn’t have much interest in federal gun control. The regulation of guns was held at the state-level. When Prohibition-era gangsters were able to overwhelm local police resources in the 1920s and 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt saw an issue. He originally proposed a “New Deal for Crime”, which later became the National Firearms Act of 1934. This was the law regarding gun control on the federal level in United States history. It sought to place a tax on firearms and require registry of all guns. Obviously, gun owners did not agree, so only weapons thought to be “gangster weapons with no usefulness for self-defense” (Adam Winkler) were required to be registered, a weaker form of Roosevelt’s proposal,

Gun control has a history dating back to 1791, when the Second Amendment of the Constitution was ratified. However, more recently, the debate over gun control has escalated into a much more public issue to which many citizens can relate. After all, stories about incidents involving guns appear frequently today in newspapers and on television or the radio. One could say that the debate started with the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which banned ownership of guns by certain groups of people and regulated the sale of guns. Since then, two main groups have gradually appeared: people who oppose strict federal

Living a life in America, we all get to have all the rights that included in the Constitution. One of those was the Second Amendment which is the rights to bear arm, the purpose was to protect ourselves from danger but nowadays a lot of people have take advantage of it and use it in the wrong way. I believe our government need to have a strict limit on guns possession.